Coptic Blogger in Egypt Threatens Hunger Strike

Compass Direct News reports that a Coptic Christian blogger in Egypt held in prison for more than a year without charge said today he will go on a hunger strike unless authorities grant his next application for release.Hani Nazeer, a 28-year-old high school social worker from Qena, Egypt and author of the blog "Karz El Hob," received word on Monday that his latest application for release was denied. His attorneys said they would re-apply for his release immediately. The interior ministry did not "supply the grounds for refusal" according to Rawda Ahamad, Nazeer's lead defense attorney. Nazeer was arrested by Egypt's State Security Investigations (SSI) on Oct 3, 2008, and sent to Burj Al-Arab prison. Nazeer ran afoul of SSI officers a few days before his arrest when a group of local teenagers visited his website and clicked on a link to an online copy of "Azazil's Goat in Mecca," a novel written under the pseudonym "Father Utah."